Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The House Republicans’ Reckless CR Proposal And The Need For Bipartisanship To Avoid A Government Shutdown
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the need to pass a bipartisan CR to avoid a government shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
September 30th is only twelve days away. If bipartisanship is allowed to work, we can avoid a government shutdown before then.
Sadly, things in the House are not off to a good start. Last night, House GOP members released what they called a deal for a CR but in reality reads like a hard right screed. Instead of working with Democrats to keep the government open, House Republicans want to cut virtually all non-defense spending by a devastating 8%. 8%, cuts to law enforcement, cancer research, and other critical priorities.
Not one penny is dedicated towards the President’s disaster relief request, despite the anguish in so many states. No health extenders are included. No attempt to reauthorize the FAA.
And with no Ukraine funding, the proposal is an insult to Ukraine and a gift to Putin. I cannot think of a worse welcome for President Zelenskyy, who visits us this week, than this House proposal which ignores Ukraine entirely.
Last night’s proposal in the House can be boiled down to two words: slapdash, reckless. Slapdash because it is not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown, and reckless because if passed it would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people.
Again: this Freedom Caucus wish list is not a serious proposal for avoiding a government shutdown, and if passed would never have enough votes to make it through the Senate.
To his credit, the Speaker knows a shutdown would be a terrible outcome.
When I spoke with him in late July, we had a very encouraging conversation about the need for bipartisanship to avoid a shutdown. We both recognized that a bipartisan CR would be the way forward.
Two months later, a bipartisan CR is still the only answer for avoiding a government shutdown. I urge Speaker McCarthy, as well as reasonable House Republicans, to resist the thirty or so extremists within their ranks who seem dead-set on provoking a crisis.
The House Freedom Caucus cannot be allowed to bully the rest of the House into submission, as hard as they might try.
Time is short to finish the job. If both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be avoided. If the hard right is given a license to run the show, a shutdown is almost inevitable. It’s that simple.
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